This article is a coming out of sorts. I’m going to reveal the real reason acupuncture works. Well okay, maybe it's not the only reason, but it is the most misunderstood and contentious, and therefore interesting.
Spoiler alert… we'll be talking about invisible lines of energy here today, kids.
Now stay with me. Wait until I can reveal the monster at the end of the story step-by-step. Just like Grover in the Sesame Street version, I promise, it’s not scary.
The Chinese called these invisible lines of energy 經 jīng, which is often translated into English as “meridians” or “channels.” 經 is a picture of threads running in a vertical pattern on a loom (the warp of the fabric), the same way that these main energetic meridians run down the human body to and from the head and feet. The character also has a more esoteric meaning in the component, 巠 jīng, which is the image of something flowing underground, and is a character used in geomancy to depict underground waterways or the subtle currents of energy that flow underground known as ley lines. Ley lines were used in ancient times to map out the sites of the villages where people lived based on the flow of telluric currents, the electromagnetic currents generated by the earth. The Chinese viewed the human body as a reflection of nature and natural landscapes, and thus the meridians and channels were likened to the underground waterways and lines of energy that radiate from the earth's soil.
So, why are these invisible lines not emphasized more when folks talk about acupuncture? It’s because this aspect became downplayed over time in the West to gain greater validity and acceptance by a western audience that was indoctrinated into a materialistic view of medicine. Today, you’ll rarely read about channels or meridians on the websites of acupuncturists or see the previously prevalent illustrations of an Asian dude standing sideways with a line painted down the side of his body on websites or in clinics.
So, as a western acupuncture practitioner, why should I write this article? Why not hide in the safety of the acceptance and approval of the masses? Well, I am one of those people that’s honest to a fault. I’m the kind of friend that will tell you that you got a bad haircut or that I think you’re making a crappy life decision, rather than stay in the safe zone of toxic positivity. Apparently it's because I'm Sagittarius, and we're said to be straightforward to the point that we risk people liking us. The astrology seems to pan out in this case. What’s authentic for me is that being even slightly disingenuous makes me feel icky, even if it’s for the greater good. And the reasons why acupuncture is said to work sits uncomfortably in this middle ground of truthiness for me, where the explanations aren’t totally wrong, but they also aren’t completely in integrity either.
As far as acupuncture, the whole story is more of a “yes, and” situation. There’s a lot of that in eastern medicine… it’s a thing. And while it's absolutely true that some of the reasons why acupuncture works are its effects on the nervous system and blood vessels, that’s not the whole story. The whole story involves the invisible lines of energy that are part of a complex network of energetic anatomy, which influence and inform the surrounding material structures----in the same vein as quantum physics, the energy informs the matter.
To appeal to a western audience, the way that acupuncture works has been primarily attributed to the more scientifically acceptable reasons, such as the effects of acupuncture on the nervous system and blood circulation. I mean, if I were to go and start rambling on about invisible lines of energy on my homepage, not many people would get it. But I do know that everyone would benefit from acupuncture, so like most people, I aim for middle ground with my marketing copy. Ultimately, it’s more important that people benefit from what this amazing medicine has to offer, rather than buy into the theory.
So, the next question that any good critical thinker should ask is: how do you know that these invisible meridians are real? Well, the honest and short answer is, I can feel them. And I’m not alone. The only way that the Chinese sages and yogis of old found out about all of these crazy circuits was by doing the same.
And because I happen to be a person with this atypical human experience, I felt called to set the record straight. Just like it’s understandable to be agnostic if one hasn’t had an undeniable spiritual or mystical experience, it’s perfectly understandable that people without the direct experience of feeling the meridians, would question their existence. Questioning things is a great practice in general; people should do it more.
For those that are curious, I wasn’t always able to feel the meridians. However, I have always been a highly sensitive person (HSP) and an empath, so a part of my life experience has always involved feeling things that most other people don’t. Sensitivity appears to be a variable trait in a population, and people have varying abilities when it comes to feeling things, just like people have varying degrees of natural intelligence or physical capabilities. I didn’t ask for this strange superpower, but seem to have it nonetheless, and it definitely has its drawbacks, like most superpowers do.
My ability to feel the meridians specifically came online in my late thirties, after a spontaneous spiritual awakening. As a part of my spiritual awakening process, I began to clearly feel the chakras inside of my body, developed even greater sensitivity with feeling the movements of subtle energy and subtle energetic fields, and slowly began to clearly feel the energetic channels and meridians of the body. I now feel these things as clear as feeling any material object, and not as a product of imagination or visualization. I am not aware of all of them 24/7 (that would be a nightmare), but my awareness of them comes online when I’m lying quietly in bed, meditating, or working with my patients. Just like we all filter out most of our sensorial experience in the day-to-day living of life, the sensation of subtle energies works the same. It’s only when something triggers conscious awareness that these energies come back onto the center stage of experiential reality.
As an acupuncturist, I combine the ability to feel the meridians with my empathic abilities to be able to know where a meridian is blocked on one of my patients, so that I can precisely needle the most beneficial acupuncture points. I not only feel the channels as they circulate in my own body, but I can also clearly feel them with my hands placed over my patient’s body. It’s a handy skill considering my line of work, but there are lots of different ways that people practice acupuncture—most people use their minds, based on knowledge of what points typically work for what. It’s all good; I use my mind too.
Sometimes, as I’m working, my patients will also be able to feel their own meridians or the flow of subtle energy (qì 氣) through their own body, and after that, they have the kind of direct experience that lends itself to immediate understanding. When that happens, experience and knowledge converge into something meaningful. But for most people, the fact that acupuncture works is enough---the wizard behind the curtain can stay there.
So, if you’re curious as to what this looks like in practice, come visit me and you can see for yourself. Like I said, acupuncture works, regardless of whether or not you believe in the invisible lines of energy. And my job is not to try to convert you or lure you into some kind of secret society. My job is to help you feel better, just like any good health practitioner. And, I take that privilege seriously.
Until then, be well.
~ Ev
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